Sorting apparatus



Jgne 22, 194s. L, W. BAILEY 2,443,761

SORTING APPARATUS i 1a i.I L .f 1 fj 4 x /35 liNVENToR.

rroR/VEY June 22, 194s. l L1 w. 'BAILEY 2,443,761

SORTING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR.

` A MBA/LEV Patented June 22, 1948 UNITED *My present' invention`relates to a-sorting'fa'ppa- "'ratus, partic'u1arly adapted 'for'sorting Iipapers, I'checks7 or the like.

"One ofthe principal objects `isto.provide@an 2 f.: toisimplfygthesorting Operationen-manypapers, nohecksmr theylike.

Withflthesesandother; obietsin vieWeeS-Will --apoearhereiniter;zhavedevisedazsert' .appaapparatus of this class which is arrangedfor-"sortf,k 5-ra-tusr havingfoertaimvnnvel gfeaturesi,oiffoonstrucl*inga -great varietyoi papers, ehecl s',-and the' like,

under an extensive 'alphabeticalynumerical, or

A'other-method of index-ing or catalogingvand an apparatus "of thisclass which is particularlyfcompact so that a great number and Ivarietyof papers,slsingsiraindto checks, Vandthe like, may be sorted-andtemporarily filed or stored.

"Ariotherimportant object of this invention is to provide. a'sortingapparatusof this class which may be embodiedA in'anfattractive-looking'- andar;lsfmelltelilyxarldrothehrportlOnS'compact cabinet for banks, or othersimilar-busimesses or institutions.

` With'openings at the opposite sides 'or endsiof the slots,v pockets,orcompartments; from which sucht paperaoheoks, and vthe like, maybe-readilyremoved by slightly tilting the containeror cabinet containingthe same, whereby the'vlatter sidesfor ends of'theslots, compartmentsorpockets are 30 vreadily accessible.

' A further importantobject of thisinven-tion` is to providean'apparatus of this class in 'Whichthe slots, y'compartments, or`pockets are similarly labelled 4or `indexed at its opposite ends-solthat the operator may merely remove the-papersi checks, or the like,Without confusion,`- from the bottomsidestor 'ends' of "the slots;compartments,

or pcketswvithout furthersorting.

' i" r. tv lo etf f`this-inven- A Stm mme mportm o Je of4oandis-oflgreater lai-ferai.extenmhanmamma 'tion is. to .provide'adapparatusof this olass'ir which' the normally bottom sides-orendsofthe slots, compartments, or pockets are'temporarily closed by aremovable Waller retaining,.member,

of vthe sortedvlpapersvand checks istilt'ed.

.'Anotherzimportant object is-,theprovison of a tiltablet container` inIwhich the tnormally. .upper sides or .endsoi the slotspcompartments,orpocktion, combination, and arrangement.,oigparteand irfnortiona asWei-llzbezherenater desrrhediindeail Y 'andfpartidularlyfset'iorthiintheyapqorendevcl' aims, meferencevbeing ,bedvftol'thef-@Qcempenthe'foharajeters;of;referenc thereon,

;fwhieh :form-anal ofrthis'appl-iatom-- Whihr .Figt leise-front ,o,rthearticle-.ofli oiture or ofn equipment, mbodyiosrrr f-inveotGn-infreneiormthe cove .being raisedqandshownyiragbeingishown brekennavzayrandminsectionto facili-ta at', y ref Fig: 2;,is1ai'sideelevation' i? eff-.Ofi :a

rfqaortione :brokemawayrand irrfsectionf,

Ftb'e ,illustration 3i is as t-ransverse.y sectional-1 viewf thereof hogaby hree different Figa leise atomviewrfwithgsthe; Inovela removed,

25a.showingfpartieularly thefarrangeznent oi the sort- .pockets or1slots; Eig.- 5; ist:al-frontfelevational.,View of. ,fthe-,apparatas withthe-eabinet tilted to. expose thebottom; Fig isanlenlargedfragmentaryseetionalview taken through 6-6 of Fig. 4ShOW-illg-theiindexarrangementlot thefvariouspokets .onslots at the Muppet?, end; `and,

Eig, 751s, @fragmentary viewlsimilantoe that shoWninFig. ybutoilthelovverond-ischarige` ends 35; ofsthe.rporolrets or. slots, in the,.c,abinet.

isf embodied ,in aA ,cabinet or str ueture.y which ,may form'martof Athe.equipment loran o ce.

`ABillie@cabineti designated, l,. is `boxflilrein shape .amultieslottedsortng,table,, and contains a .l pluralityofvsbmpartments'or ,pockets A, which provide temporary... vdeposit@riesffo1- the,,papers, L. vohecks, orothenarticlestorbesorted j :These oom-Whcnrmayrbe readily removed when the container 4g partments I aremshovwnlas; relatively dele extend ,l .ing .thewfull length of the cabinet, lflfhey.l are ,-ormed,bmparttions 3. and end wallsoithe cabinetcompartments Aare ,furtherysubdivided by thin Wall members orpartitions? 2,and 2b,

vets' may-be temporarily closed or-oovered-,Whemmespacedabout:%,orlrnoreapart.Theuppen-ends he container is tilted as described.AStillanothc-frimportant object ofvfthis invention Y istoprovideafsorting apparatusfhaving only-v onehalf-fas v1therearecompartments,pockets, or slotsasofassflnarrowffandsthe :opper. and;1oWer;-ends.,ofthe many: main indicia# or index-iA portions..I as

of said partitions and oabinetmside Wallsaterminate intheabovementonedmlll-Soted'Softdilemme.

compartments have the shape of slots which are long laterally withrespect to the length or lateral extent of the cabinet and arerelatively narrow. If the apparatus is used for sorting or classifyingchecks, the slots may be 6" long and Wide.

With slots of such shape and size, many may be provided in the normallyupper face of the cabinet. In a -cabinet approximately 36" long inlateral extent and 24" wide, there are 6 times 64 or 384 slots. A singleoperator or sorter may thus sort large numbers of cancelled checks into384 specific depositors accounts over a sorting table which he or shemay easily reach. If the length of the slots were shortened to 4, thenumber of sorting slots would be 576. It is obvious, of course, that thenumber of sorting slots would be materially increased by increasing thelength and width say to 40 and 36, respectively, which may be areasonable maximum reach of the operator.

The operator of the sorting apparatus may stand or sit in iront of theapparatus and deposit the various articles to be sorted at the upper endof the various pockets, compartments, or depositories A, which appear asslots or narrow pigeon-holes.

In normal use, i. e., when sorting or classifying articles by insertingthem vertically into the upper ends of the compartments, pockets, orslots, the lower ends thereof are temporarily closed by a closure member4, which is here shown as slidable in grooves la near the lower ends ofthe side and rear end walls of the cabinet.

After the articles are sorted, and are to be removed from theirdepositories, compartments, pockets, or slots, from the lower endsthereof, the cabinet is tilted to .one of the dotted line positionsshown in Fig. 3, so that the depositories, compartments, pockets, orslots are substantially horizontal, and the closure member 4 is thenremoved, permitting access to the normally lower ends of the former. Insuch event, i. e., when the cabinet is tilted, the upper ends of suchdepositories, compartments, pockets, or slots, may be closed by a cover5, which here is shown as pivoted at the edge 5B'. The cover is closedover the upper face of the cabinet and may be latched by a suitablelatch 6. This cover may also be lowered over the top of the cabinet whenthe apparatus is not in use.

As shown, the alternate laterally positioned vertically separating walls2 are higher than those immediately in front of or behind the same, theshorter walls being designated 2b. The walls are thus arranged to reducethe indexing of the various depositories, compartments, pockets orslots. The walls which extend higher than the others are provided withindicia for the compartments, pockets, or slots, immediately in front ofthe same as Well as behind such walls. Those in front may havedesignations on white background, such as the names, Abele land Andersonin Fig, 6, and indicia for the compartments, pockets, or slots behindsuch walls may appear on colored background, such as the n-ames, Bertranand Borden in Fig. 6. Thus, the operator may look for only one-half asmany main indicia and direct the articles to be sorted either in frontor behind such walls.

The lower ends of the same walls are similarly labelled, as shown inFig. 7.

In order properly to cover the whole of the upper face of the cabinet,and the whole of the compartments, pockets, or slots, the inside of thecover 5 may be provided with lateral ribs 5bv ,.4 which may be of suchwidth that they may extend to near the upper ends of the shorter walls2b, as shown in Fig. 3.

In the drawing, the cabinet I is shown as provided With trunnions Il,Which are pivotally mounted at the upper ends :of the brackets I2 whichextend upwardly from the ends of a suitable base I3. This base with thebrackets I2 provide va cradle for the reception and support of thecabinet l, and present an appearance of being a unitary rigid structureAThe base or cradle may be provided with casters I4 so that it is readilyportable.

In order to lock the cabinet in its normal upright position, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3, a spring actuated latch bolt 2l, provided in one of thebrackets l2, may extend into a recess lb in the lower portion of one ofthe end walls, as shown best in Fig. l. In order temporarily to hold thecabinet in one of its tilted positions, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3,the latch bolt 2l may be withdrawn from the recess lb and inserted in:one of the holes Ic in the same end wall, but located at the side ofthe pivotal axis, as shown best in Fig. 2.

The desired tilted position is determined by the convenience of theoperator.

In :order to facilitate the removal of checks or other articles from thelower ends of the cornpartments, pockets, or slots, the lateral walls 2may be provided with inwardly extending slots 2a, as shown in Fig. 7.

When the cabinet is located in a tilted position with the normally lowerends of the compartments, pockets, or slots, inclined downwardly, andthe closure member 4 removed, suitable retaining members 3l, in the formof transverse rods, may be provided at the lower ends thereof in ordertemporarily to retain the checks or articles therein.

With the foregoing description in View, it is obvious that a multiple ordouble apparatus may be provided wherein diierent operators may classifyor sort papers, documents, or checks into different portions thereof.Such arrangement may be desirable when an exceptionally large breakdownis desired, as when many accounts are to be serviced.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction,combination, and arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to belimited to the same, but desire to include in the scope of my inventionthe construction, combination., and arrangement substantially as setforth in the appended claims.

Iclaim:

l. In a sorting means of the class described, a tiltable cabinet havinga plurality of sorting pockets open at its opposite ends, articles beingadapted to be placed into said pockets through one of its openings, andremovable from the other of its openings when the cabinet is tilted.

2. In a sorting means of the class described, a tiltable cabinet havinga plurality of sorting pockets open at its opposite ends, articles beingadapted to be placed into said pockets through one of its openings, andmeans for temporarily closing the other openings of the pockets, saidmeans being removable when said cabinet is tilted for removing saidarticles from the latter openings.

3. In a sorting means of the class described, a support having spacedbrackets, a cabinet located between the brackets and provided withtrunynions at its opposite sides rotatably supporting the same on thebrackets, means for temporarily maintaining the cabinet in asubstantially upright and in a shifted position, the cabinet having aplurality of sorting pockets open at its opposite ends, articles beingadapted to be placed into said pockets through one of its openings, andremovable from the other openings when the cabinet is tilted.

4. In a sorting means of the class described, a support having spacedbrackets, a cabinet located between the brackets and provided withtrunnions at its opposite sides rotatably supporting the same on thebrackets, means for temporarily maintaining the cabinet in asubstantially upright and in a shifted position, the cabinet having aplurality of substantially vertical sorting pockets open at its oppositeends, articles being adapted to be placed into the pockets through theupper openings and removable from the lower openings when the cabinet istilted.

5. In a sorting means of the class described, a support having spacedbrackets, a cabinet located between the brackets and provided withtrunnions at its opposite sides rotatably supporting the same on thebrackets, means for temporarily maintaining the cabinet in asubstantially upright and in a shifted position, the cabinet having aplurality of substantially vertical sorting pockets open at its oppositeends, articles being adapted to be placed into the pockets through theupper openings, and means for temporarily closing the lower openings,said means being removable when said cabinet is tilted for removing saidarticles from the latter openings.

6. In a sorting means of the class described, a support having spacedbrackets, a cabinet located between the brackets and provided withtrunnions at its opposite sides rotatably supporting the same on thebrackets, means for temporarily maintaining the cabinet in asubstantially upright and in a shifted position, the cabinet having aplurality of substantially vertical sorting pockets open at its oppositeends, articles being adapted to be placed into the pockets through theupper openings, means for temporarily closing the lower openings, and acover for the upper openings, said means being removable when saidcabinet is tilted for removing said articles from the latter openings.

LAURELLE W. BAILEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,058,118 Wardy Apr. 8, 19131,191,857 Van Houten July 18, 1916 1,817,191 Harmony Aug. 4, 19312,165,609 Bowser July 11, 1939

